


Normalcy

by horologiums_time



Category: Captain Underpants Series - Dav Pilkey
Genre: Gen, but it's only a tiny part of the fic and barely even two lines, i think i'm going in too deep, slight spoilers for the movie, they just want to be kids again is that too much to ask, this is a children's book like holy cow it shouldn't be this serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 22:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11367318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horologiums_time/pseuds/horologiums_time
Summary: There are times in their lives that George Beard and Harold Hutchins wished that they had normal lives like normal children going to their normal school and having normal conversations like everyone else.





	Normalcy

There are times in their lives that George Beard and Harold Hutchins wished that they had normal lives like normal children going to their normal school and having normal conversations like everyone else.

Their parents ask them about their days and they can only say the usual, nonspecific response that only gets them so far until their parents ask for more. But you can't really talk about talking toilets and aliens and supervillains and the fact that you hypnotized your principal into being a superhero because those sort of things are absurd.

So they can only say that their day was good and leave it at that. As much as they want to talk to someone about their adventures, they can't because these sort of things are secrets. Yes, the students may see what’s going on but really what help are they when they don't know half of it. The teachers claim that they're breaking mentally and that they need some time off and Mr. Krupp has his own problems with memory loss and spontaneous injuries that come out of nowhere. He blames the boys because what else is he supposed to do? They're always nearby anyways.

Melvin Sneedly doesn't help at all. He knows of the Captain and who he is and he knows of the adventures and how real they are, but he is not an ally, he's an enemy. He's smart but still dumb. George and Harold wish he would lighten up and help them, but his ego is a mile wide and thicker than the flavorless mashed potatoes they serve in the cafeteria so it's hard to get through to the brainiac and get him to understand that not everything has to be about him and benefit him.

It doesn't really matter, does it? They got each other and Captain Underpants so that's enough to get along in life. Being alone on a secret is torture and both boys are glad that they have each other to talk to about the craziness that goes on.

But sometimes, that can only go so far. They see and feel and smell and hear the same things and it's boring to talk about it because they already know about it and it's not new and exciting anymore. They can tell others in the form of comics but then it’s just that: a comic. Fiction. It's only a story and nobody believes it after it happened for whatever reason. It's easy to understand that those who weren't there wouldn't believe it but George and Harold both have seen teachers swear it off as a dream or hallucination because come on, really? A talking toilet, a giant robot, a supervillain? How ridiculous is that?

Maybe it's good that no one believes them. Less questions that way and nobody gets in their way whenever they try to save the world with the Waistband Warrior by their side.

They still wish they had normal lives anyways. The adventures are entertaining but long and difficult and they've missed days of school before and their parents would not be happy if they found out. Not like they actually minded not being in school, but they try to make the effort to look like they were in school. It's more difficult than before, when they had a normal principal and a normal life not filled with robots and mutants.

But they still have to make the effort because to their parents nothing has changed and they expect the duo to go on like normal. They even have to fake being alert because they don't want anyone to see their exhaustion because that means something is off and different about them. They feel like adults already, being more stressed than they should and having more to worry about than what is necessary for a fourth grader. It's like a huge package of responsibility was pushed onto them and they're not sure how much longer they can keep this up before they crack.

Responsibility hurts honestly and they don't want to keep on massaging their muscles and patching up their scars for the rest of their lives. They want to live like normal fourth graders and act like kids again. Saving the world is not fit for a couple of ten year-olds who still have their whole life in front of them. They hold way more secrets than normal and it feels like the dam is creaking and groaning with all the water and secrets behind it.

And if you ask them how their day went and how they're doing, they'll just answer:

“Good.”

Before leaving to their treehouse with heavy steps with a barely noticeable limp and tired eyes that have seen impossible things, because what else can they say? They're just kids who've only been on this planet for a decade so there's no way they've been through something exhilarating and life-changing. No one would believe them if they said that they fight villains side-by-side with their principal. No one would believe them if they said that more than once their comics have been made into reality.

No.

One.

The kids of the school have seen the impossible and know that it actually happened but they just do not know like George and Harold. They can talk to the students and they’d understand what they were talking about but it just won’t help because they are just normal kids who don’t dive into the weirdness. They’re just not there, and that makes it difficult for George and Harold to connect with the other students.

It was a lot easier to make friends before. It was a lot easier to focus before. It was a lot easier to live before. Normal life may be overrated but at least it is safe and easy.

George and Harold, for only a little bit, can imagine a normal, average life, where they just sit around and create comics and laugh and eat sugary foods and not worry about what the next day may bring. But these moments are fleeting and the atmosphere is sobering once they see the Waistband Warrior on their comics or a flash of red out of the corner of their eyes or hear a distant snap. They’re reminded of the 3D Hypno Ring and the weightless comics fluttering around a man as he stretches his arm upwards, bellowing his mighty battle cry-

“I don't get it. Why didn’t it work?”

Reality always hits them hard because they’re reminded that the one event that could’ve led to a normal life didn’t happen. They believed that it could and it seemed that it would but in the end fate is cruel and what they did to the Hypno Ring didn’t work and now they’re stuck with this life and it’s just not fair and they're not sure if they can keep this up-

They really wished it would’ve. Their throats are getting sore from saying “Here we go again” and their fingers feel like they’re about to fall off from snapping. Why they thought this was good way to go in life, they don’t know, and they wish they could go back and stop it all from happening. It was cool the first few times but now it’s just annoying and dangerous.

It’s all holding them back and they wish they could just leave it and talk about their days like normal and have a normal principal in a normal school. They just want to have fun like they used to because they’re just kids and who gives this sort of responsibility to two fourth graders?

All they can do is sit and try to forget the new world around them by immersing themselves in their comics and hope they don’t get dragged into another adventure. It hurts to draw and it hurts to write and they wish they could see past the tears as they try to cope with their chaotic lives.

All they can do is patch their wounds and rub the exhaustion from their eyes as they try to go along in their long days.

All they can do is wish and hope and dream but they know deep down beneath their joyful masks that they will never have a normal life again.

But they can only trudge on, with heavy bodies and tired eyes, with more brushes with death than anyone should go through, with more experiences and adventures unfit for two ten years, with-

It's difficult to keep up the facade.

And the dam is slowly cracking.

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness I apologize for the delay in chapter 2 of Two Sides of the Same Coin. Several things got in the way so I didn't have a lot of time to write the next chapter.
> 
> So here's a small fic while I finish up chapter 2. Thank you all for your patience as I try to sort everything out!


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